# Books that sold way more copies than you would have thought **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522 "2013-07-03T11:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/41 "2013-07-08T23:17:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I know this isn’t what the OP was looking for but I have to cast another vote of amazement that Dan Brown wrote a best-seller. I knew _The Da Vinci Code_ was popular so I decided to check it out. And I was shocked at how badly written it was. > > I’m not just talking that it isn’t a literary masterpiece. I’m saying it isn’t even up to the standards of good hack work - the level you’d expect from somebody like Clive Cussler or W.E.B. Griffin. I’m being serious when I say that the average house name series thrillers like _The Destroyer_ or _The Executioner_ are better written than _The Da Vinci Code_. I tried to read “The Da Vinci Code” and gave up out of sheer boredom before the first chapter was done. I did read, and finish “Angels and Demons”, and it’s a tightly packed and implausible adventure story that was very obviously written before 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/42 "2013-07-08T23:19:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > This book has been on bestseller lists forever, and was still in the top ten for paperback books in the N.Y. Times listing as of last Sunday. Given how long it’s been around, I wonder how it has managed to continue to allegedly sell so many copies. Maybe there are lots of air travelers desperate for reading matter who just glom onto the first thing they see in the “top ten bestsellers” section of the airport bookstore. I’m guessing that it’s required reading in many college classes, especially for health care professionals. I’ve always loved medical history, and was one of the first people to buy the book. After I heard about it, I actually went to the library to look for it almost a year before it came out, not knowing it hadn’t been released; I just assumed that the book had come out in the late 1970s when the story was exposed, and that it was long out of print and would only be obtainable via interlibrary loan. :o ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/43 "2013-07-08T23:21:43Z")
(jumps up and down) “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Who decided that this book was an instant classic, anyway? It’s dreadful. Oh, and another one. “Dewey”, the book about the library cat. That was terrible too, although most of it was because I found the author very unlikable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/44 "2013-07-08T23:23:37Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:38, topic:662522”] The one that most blows my mind is my own _Who Pooped in the Park?_ kids’ series. It was just a little fun side project and I NEVER expected to sell so many (almost 400,000 copies so far). That’s about 1,000 times as much as any of my “serious” books. It feels very strange. Just for the record, there’s a big difference between “800,000 copies in print” and “800,000 sold.” Your link says the latter. In my humble opinion, this is why Dan Brown hit the bestseller lists with _The Da Vinci Code_. I don’t think anyone in the field would call it good writing, but he has a way of gripping readers with his storytelling. It also didn’t hurt that the book hit the market with a very controversial topic at just the right time. Even the Purdue lawsuit and the Baigent & Leigh lawsuit only managed to get more press (and probably more sales) for the book. [/QUOTE] How about “The Bridges of Madison County”? I’ll admit that I cried at the end, even though I KNOW IT’S ABOUT A WOMAN WHO CHEATED ON HER HUSBAND. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/45 "2013-07-09T00:03:04Z")
Two others that come to mind immediately are “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves” which I have read (or tried to) and “Eat Pray Love”, which I haven’t, and haven’t heard ANYONE say they liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/46 "2013-07-09T01:55:00Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > Uncle John’s Bathroom Book. It’s completely mystifying that American felt so drawn to a collection of short stories that you can read on the toilet. It’s been so popular that it has copycats and spin offs. crazy. I don’t know if you’re aware of this but “Uncle John” went on to become a regular novelist. He’s [John Scalzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scalzi). ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/47 "2013-07-09T02:05:04Z")
**Longitude** , the book that (I believe) started the “detailed exposition of a quirky slice of history/technology that you may not have thought about before” genre. So we have **Salt** , **The Paint Box** , **Cod** , et cetera, et nauseum. An unexpectedly rivetting read. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/48 "2013-07-09T03:55:43Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I believe you mean the former. I did, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/49 "2013-07-09T11:24:52Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > **Longitude** , the book that (I believe) started the “detailed exposition of a quirky slice of history/technology that you may not have thought about before” genre. So we have **Salt** , **The Paint Box** , **Cod** , et cetera, et nauseum. An unexpectedly rivetting read. Longitude sold as well as it did because it became assigned reading in a lot of high schools while it was still in hardcover. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/50 "2013-07-09T11:46:19Z")
James Michener. I’ve never read him, so it isn’t based on his quality of writing. My surprise is based on just how big his books were. I am surprised that so many people would pick up so many 1,000 page books, and I somehow imagine that the majority who bought them never finished them. I always saw them touted as “airplane books,” something to pick up at the airport to have a bit of reading on the flight… how many flights would last that long? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/51 "2013-07-09T15:57:15Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > James Michener. I’ve never read him, so it isn’t based on his quality of writing. My surprise is based on just how big his books were. I am surprised that so many people would pick up so many 1,000 page books, and I somehow imagine that the majority who bought them never finished them. I always saw them touted as “airplane books,” something to pick up at the airport to have a bit of reading on the flight… how many flights would last that long? I’ve read several of them. They’re very well written, and he was a terrific storyteller. Has anyone ever read, let alone finished, “…And Ladies Of The Club”? That’s a 1,500 page book that’s a near-ubiquitous presence at book sales. And then there’s Ayn Rand, and “Atlas Shrugged” in particular. I completely lost interest when I figured out who John Galt was. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/52 "2013-07-09T16:41:20Z")
I guess I have a different notion of what males for a “surprise” bestsellers, when it comes to books or any other item of pop culture. I’m never surprised when pop/disco or country or rap songs I hate are big hits, because I’m well aware that there’s a big market for that kind of music. I’m never surprised when a horror or teen comedy flick is a big hit, even if I find the movie repulsive, because I remember the low standards I had myself as a teen. I HATE John Grisham’s prose (and Dan Brown’s), but I understand why he’s popular- there’s a huge market for entertaining middlebrow literature. I may find his books unbearably mediocre, but as Senator Hruska might have put it, “Mediocre people deserve books to read, too.” I’m SURPRISED when a book (or movie or record) that ISN’T obviously designed to appeal to any large group is a smash. That’s why I cited Allan Bloom’s _ **The Closing of the American Mind.** _ Books about Plato and Wittgenstein don’t normally top the best seller lists! I happen to think that MOST of that book was a bore, and that NONE of it was what it was perceived to be (i.e. a conservative Republican polemic), but even if I liked the book or endorsed Bloom’s message, I’d be stunned that such a book was so popular. I felt the same way about Stephen Hawking’s _ **Brief History of Time.** _ His subject matter is NOT inherently fascinating or clearly understandable to average readers. Whether you regard the book as brilliant or as lousy, you have to admit- that’s NOT a book you’d expect to sell like hotcakes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/53 "2013-07-09T17:05:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t know if you’re aware of this but “Uncle John” went on to become a regular novelist. He’s [John Scalzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scalzi). Then why doesn’t the Wikipedia page you linked to mention this? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/54 "2013-07-10T00:17:48Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I felt the same way about Stephen Hawking’s _ **Brief History of Time.** _ His subject matter is NOT inherently fascinating or clearly understandable to average readers. Whether you regard the book as brilliant or as lousy, you have to admit- that’s NOT a book you’d expect to sell like hotcakes. Along those lines, I didn’t expect _Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar_ to hit the bestseller lists, or _Eats, Shoots & Leaves_. Neither philosophy nor punctuation are normally thought of as topics to appeal to the masses. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/55 "2013-07-10T03:06:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How about “The Bridges of Madison County”? I’ll admit that I cried at the end, even though I KNOW IT’S ABOUT A WOMAN WHO CHEATED ON HER HUSBAND. No, it’s about a woman who chose to remain in her mundane, uninspiring, unappreciated life . . . turning her back on love, passion, adventure and happiness. Cheating on her husband was the best thing she ever did. I hated her for not “following her bliss.” > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And then there’s Ayn Rand, and “Atlas Shrugged” in particular. I completely lost interest when I figured out who John Galt was. But the thread is about books that were sold, not books that were read. Huge difference when it comes to _Atlas Shrugged._ ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/56 "2013-07-10T03:10:27Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > _The Name of the Rose_ is probably the most accessible of Umberto Eco’s books, but it’s still pretty damn dense for a 50-million-copy bestseller. I’m also surprised by this one, and I liked _The Name of the Rose_. But like most of Eco’s books it’s not easy to get through, and even if had been a quick read it doesn’t seem a likely candidate for one of the bestselling novels of all time. Although looking at Wikipedia’s list of [bestsellers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books), there are a few others that are puzzling, again not because I think they’re bad but because I don’t know why these particular titles captured the interest of the general public. _Sophie’s World_, for instance, is technically a novel but is mostly a series of lessons on the history of philosophy…written for teenagers. It’s sold 40 million copies worldwide. Agatha Christie was and still is a very popular author, but she wrote a lot of books and I’m not sure why _And Then There Were None_ in particular sold 100 million copies while none of her other books made the list. There are also a few that were apparently major sellers in their own time but are mostly forgotten today. Some I’d never even heard of before. It looks like most of these were novels that attracted a lot of attention for being racy or otherwise controversial, and I guess in most cases that doesn’t translate into enduring popularity. _[The Revolt of Mamie Stover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolt_of_Mamie_Stover)_ (1951) has outsold _The Great Gatsby_, but I don’t think the former is regarded as a classic work of literature. It barely even has a Wikipedia entry. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/57 "2013-07-10T03:35:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Then why doesn’t the Wikipedia page you linked to mention this? Looking further into it, it appears I may have over-estimated his work. “Uncle John” is a house name belonging to Portable Press. Scalzi wrote some of the books credited to Uncle John by himself but other books were written as collaborations and Scalzi was just one of the authors. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/58 "2013-07-10T08:10:25Z")
Samuel Delany’s _Dhalgren_ shifted units in the 70s - over a million I think and the blurb at amazon now calls it one of the all time best-selling SF novels. What percentage of purchasers made it all the way through would you guess - 1%? Very experimental and avant-garde work by mainstream standards - thematically a very gay book and weighing in over 800 pages. If it was projected to sell 1000 copies I’d be surprised. It is quite readable in prose terms, though. It’s a ‘hard’ book in the way it’s structured and the story it’s trying to tell, but sentence by sentence it’s fairly easy going IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/59 "2013-07-10T19:55:50Z")
Just a note- I actually borrowed from the library & read The Closing of the American Mind, bought a used copy, later had it autographed by Allan Bloom when he spoke at my alma mater. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522/60 "2013-07-11T15:05:47Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think the Harry Potter books surprised me. Having read the first four I gave up and wondered whether I’d simply missed the point of them. They seem to just pluck storylines and solutions out of thin air with no real feel of a coherent universe. They just felt badly constructed. There are lots of bells and whistles to keep the kids happy so I’m not surprised they like it, but I am surprised that adults hold them in high regard as literature. > > And Dan Brown. I started one of his on holiday (with nothing else to read) and managed about 25 pages before throwing across the room in disgust. I can’t even remember which one it was but it was the worst piece of incessant, smug, patronising exposition I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading. Wait, you had to read FOUR Harry Potter books before you gave up?!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-sold-way-more-copies-than-you-would-have-thought/662522.md?page=4)